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Saturday, November 21, 2015

Cypher Friends: Pulsar, a supervillain for the Cypher System

Frank Costen found his life going nowhere. He was too poor to get himself drunk, and, being a high school dropout dishonorably discharged from the Army, couldn’t find any gainful employment even when he tried. Getting a tip that VIPER was recruiting, he jumped at the chance. Sure there’d be officers to deal with once again, but with his military experience, he’d be sure to get in. Besides, he was desperate.

The tip turned out to be legit, and soon Frank was being given a physical. When the results came in, he recieved an offer. They were looking for some “special recruits” to be come part of an elite fighting unit. Would he be interested? Let’s see,… recognized his talents, better pay… oh Hell yes! It looked like his luck was changing, and things were finally going to be turning around…

The “evaluation test” for this “elite force” turned out to nothing more than experiments in human mutation. As the electronic hum of the machinery he was strapped to rose in pitch, Frank felt intense pain sear through every cell of his body. It then got worse, and even worse still. In so much agony, Frank barely noticed when the machinery overloaded and exploded around him. He was uncertain how much time had passed, all that he knew was that the pain had ended. Apart from being buried in rubble, he felt better than ever had in his entire life. In fact, he felt as if he was bursting with energy!

With a mere gesture, he blasted the rubble off his body and stood, seething with intense power and anger. Someone would pay for the pain they inflicted upon him. Surrounded by VIPER agents, he was ordered to stand down. Not a single agent nor scientist was left alive as he blasted the remains of that small VIPER outpost into crumbling pieces. The power was now his with which to do whatever he pleased.

Since then, Frank, using the name Pulsar, has been a common sight on the supervillain scene. Sometimes involved with a scheme of his own, sometimes with other criminals, he has fought most of the major (and minor, for that matter) superheroes in America. He’s done precious little winning though. For some reason, things just don’t seem to go his way. But this next job, it’s perfect you see, nothing can posibly go wrong…

PULSAR 9 (27)

Motive: The next big scoreEnvironment: AnywhereHealth: 32Damage Inflicted: 9Armor: 3Movement: Short (Walking or Flying)Modifications: Speed defense 10, Thievery 10Combat: Pulsar is infused with energy and can direct it as blasts, generate force fields and fly.Force Shield: When a creature rolls a 1-2 while making an roll against him, his force shield reflects that attack back at them and inflicts 2 points of damage that ignores armor.Pulse Blast: He inflicts 4 damage to all creatures wishing short range. Pulse Weapon: If he takes a round to fly a short distance, he may fly through a character as pure energy, moving them one step down the damage track.Energy Being: As an action, he may turn into pure energy and inflict 4 damage that ignore armor to anyone in contact with him.Use: Pulsar always has plans. And contingency plans. And back-up plans. And he's always looking for the next big score. Its easy for the characters to stumble on to one of those plans.Loot: A defeated Pulsar has 1 cypher.(If you like this post and others like it and have an extra $1 a month, please consider becoming a Patron of Cross Planes on Patreon.)